Big Brother City teen rises above the drama to win hearts nationwide

Big Brother's profile is far smaller than it once was. The formula may be stale but, argues Tristan Cork, it's worth a watch to see a level-headed young Bristolian navigate an increasingly mad world...

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SHE'S one of the youngest people ever to go into the famous Big Brother house, but in a year full of more than the usual fall-outs, gossiping, backstabbing and arguments, a teenage girl from Bristol is rising above it all to win the hearts of the show's fans across the country.

Teja Dalphy who viewers saw celebrating her 19th birthday in the Big Brother house this week has been quietly navigating her way through one of the more tempestuous series in recent years, and is being ranked now as one of the favourites to win.

For those who haven't watched Big Brother for years, if ever, the show is pretty much the same as it always was albeit with slightly higher production values now it's on ITV rather than the old days of Channel 4 or Channel 5. There is the usual mix of very different kinds of people all with the inexplicable desire to be on telly, and to be filmed from scores of cameras 24 hours a day, and made to do silly tasks while falling out with the people they are living with.

This year's series has seen plenty of drama with, for the first time really, the outside culture wars creeping in to what has typically been a politics-free zone most years.